"Someone to talk to" is how McGeorge Bundy, national security adviser to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, summed up the special relationship between Great Britain and the United States, dating from the darkest period of World War II. The same term can be applied to Canada, and increasingly Mexico as well.

From ancient times, amphibious military invasions are rightly regarded as especially challenging. Early summer includes the 72nd anniversary of the greatest such operation, the Allies' invasion of France in World War II, on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day.

North Korea, the world's last remaining truly totalitarian dictatorship, held a Communist Party Congress from May 6 to 9. Tight total control of the enormous, closely choreographed show was self-evident. The last such party congress was held in 1980, an occasion for regime founder Kim Il Sung to indicate succession of power to his son Kim Jong Il.

The criminal destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine is back in the news in important ways. The association Bellingcat has just released a report with remarkably specific evidence implicating Russia.

The days when global oil production was symbolized by Arab states are gone, and important contemporary events confirm a new reality. In mid-April, governments of major oil producing nations failed to achieve agreement on cutting back their production.